When Professor Hugo Archibald finds an orphaned baby chimp in Africa, it seems like the most normal thing in the world for him to bring the brave little toddler home to Boston to live with his wife and two small children. Jennie quickly assimilates into mid-sixties suburban life, indulging in the rambunctious fun one would expect from a typical American kid of her generation: riding breakneck on her own tricycle, playing with Booger the kitten and a Barbie doll, fighting with her siblings over use of the TV, and - as a teenager - learning to drink, smoke pot, and curse just like her human peers. Attaining an impressive command of American Sign Language, Jennie absorbs a warped vision of heaven from a neighborhood minister, experiences first-hand the bureaucracies of the American health-care system, and even has her own fifteen minutes of fame. Jennie's story - hilarious, poignant, and ultimately tragic - introduces to American literature one of the most endearing animal heroines in modern fiction.